


Y Not?

by fiax, Gothic_Lolita



Series: Coffee Shop AU [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Identity Porn, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 11:04:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13950231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiax/pseuds/fiax, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothic_Lolita/pseuds/Gothic_Lolita
Summary: based off the prompt from tumblr that i made Gothic_Lolita write with me:http://kayytx.tumblr.com/post/171581675607so there was this coffee place in Hong Kong called Y Not Coffee Engineerit’s unfortunately permanently closed now, but how about a stevetony au where Tony decides to open a coffee shop and experiment and craft different kinds of amazing drinks, but because he seriously sucks at naming things (lol sorry Dum-E and U), he decides to just…spell his name backwards when he registers his business.(and kind of to spite Rhodey and Pepper because why NOT open a coffee shop?? then he can always have access to it)also like what if in this au Tony’s still a billionaire industrialist but this coffee shop is his side projectand he wants it to be completely separate from his SI ventures, hence the terrible name for the shop he came up with in like 15 secondsSteve meets him when he comes in for a cappuccino and thinks Tony is just a cute barista who works there, not the owner of the shop AND a global tech conglomerate





	Y Not?

**Author's Note:**

> Co-written between an American and a Brit, so any language discrepancies are probably attributed to that. -Lolita

Tony was terrible at a surprisingly large number of things, including but not limited to; naming things, stopping his impulsive urges and taking proper care of himself. As a result of two of these things, Tony bought a coffee shop. Admittedly, he hadn’t slept in two and a half days and at the time, buying a coffee shop sounded very, very good. _Fuck you Rhodey, this is a great idea,_ was probably uttered at some point. 

The 2Beans coffee shop four minutes from the tower had closed just when Tony really, really, needed a coffee. Utterly furious over this, Tony took to the internet and bought the two-car garage across the road from the tower and set to create designs for a coffee shop like no other. _Why not Pepper, this is a good idea, you’ve always said I get too wrapped up in all the work for SI_ , a coffee shop like this is a great idea to distract me from it. Tony was not going to be thrown off his idea for his coffee shop, and he would not rest until the plans were finished. 

Although, he might just take a super quick power nap now, _yes, of course, Pepper, on the way to nap now_. 

 

As it turns out, opening a coffee shop was actually hard. Harder than Tony expected, at least. But it was better than trying to run a global tech conglomerate, so Tony could handle it. If he could stare down corporate giants and the US government over shutting down Stark Industries’ weapons division, he could handle the baby steps of starting up a new business from scratch.

Probably.

And it was actually coming along quite well, _thank you very much for the support Pepper I can do this_ , Tony built and designed the interior of the shop from scratch, turning a garage into what had to be any hipster’s wet dream.

The hardest part, unironically, ended up being the damned coffee itself. Trying to find where was the best place to get the beans from, how local was local, what creamer brands to use, learning the coffee lingo (because apparently there was a huge difference between a macchiato and a frappuccino), and all that shit. All in all, it took six months to put the coffee shop together, and half of that time was devoted to learning an entirely new language of how to speak coffee.

And yes, Tony was bad at names. But Y Not was a funny name, _shut the hell up Rhodey_. Tony hired needed staff, but left a spot opened for himself as a part-time barista, because why not? That way he could at least make sure his staff was the best of the best. Like that Undercover Boss tv show.

It was actually sort of nice to get away from SI and just work a menial job. Tony had been afraid his face was too recognizable, but apparently, a pair of hipster black frame glasses and an apron worked well enough as a disguise. Superman had the right idea, Tony surmised.

 

Tony knew with the shutdown of 2Beans he’d have enough patrons to at the very least break even in costs, but he didn’t expect business to boom. He already had a 5-star rating on Yelp, see Pepper I told you I could pull this off. People had already begun asking if Y Not would become a chain and if they could open up a second shop on the other side of town.

Tony was loving it. Whoever started the rumour that Tony Stark was only a successful businessman because Howard built SI before him could kiss Tony’s iced macchiato. That was actually a good slogan, _Pepper write that down we could start up a merch line with that_.

 

* * *

 

Steve walked into the new coffee shop that had cropped up about a month ago. Sam raved about it, saying it was even better than 2Beans. Steve was sceptical, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to try it.

After studying the menu for a moment, Steve approached the counter.

“Hey, can I get a large iced americano?” Steve flashed a smile.

The barista spun around to face Steve, and wow, okay, he was pretty. Really pretty. “Anything else?” The barista asked with a cheerful tone. Steve squinted at his nametag. Anthony.

“Um yeah, can I get the doughnut with red, white, and blue sprinkles? That’ll be all, thank you,” Steve said, pulling out his wallet.

Anthony tapped a few things on the register, then looked up. “Alright, that’ll be seven fifty-two.”

Steve handed him a ten, and after Anthony handed back the change, he waited for his coffee. 

Anthony caught Steve’s attention when he set down a coffee and bag in front of him. “Here ya go, Mister America,”Anthony sang, grinning.

“Mister America?” Steve arched an eyebrow.

Anthony shrugged. “You ordered an Americano, you got a doughnut with red, white, and blue sprinkles, you’re wearing a tee shirt with a flag on it, and I think that’s an eagle tattoo on your bicep.” He studied Steve. “You’re right, Mister America doesn’t sound right. You look like a captain. Captain America.”

Steve couldn’t help a laugh. “You make me sound like a superhero.” He grabbed his coffee taking a sip. “Wow. This is amazing. This is even better than 2Beans. I can’t ever remember having a coffee this good.” He marvelled, staring at the cup.

“Darling, you sound surprised.” Anthony winked at him, smirking.

“Who owns this place, anyway?” Steve asked, leaning against the counter. Business was slow, Steve had come just after the breakfast, but before the lunch rush.

Anthony shrugged. “Hell if I know. Some anon guy with money, I’d guess.”

Steve nodded. “You like working here?”

Anthony narrowed his eyes, almost playfully. “Now now, are you supposed to be my boss or something? Some undercover boss type shit? Because if so, I plead the 5th.”

“No, no.” Steve laughed. “Just some artist who’s curious.” He held up his hands.

“Well in that case, yes. Which I’m totally not saying in case you’re lying.” Tony said, grabbing his own cup of coffee and sipping it.

Steve shook his head. “I can show you my portfolio if I need to, to convince you I’m not your boss.”

“Sure sure.” Anthony gave him a mock glare. “Of course you have an alibi.” 

“What can I say? I’m prepared.” Steve winked.

 

* * *

 

Tony loved working as a barista. The majority of the people treated him as an equal, there were, of course, the people who saw Tony as someone worth less than them because of his badge and apron. No one knew who he was. Pepper these glasses really do work, get me some more. 

Tall, blond, and gorgeous making his order looked entertaining. Downright delicious. The kind of man that would make Tony say _yes sir no sir_ in whatever way he asked. Shut up Clint, this is just a natural response. An iced Americano, typical pretty, blue-eyed boy. Probably wants a cookie too. Nope, just a red white and blue doughnut. Tony started humming the star spangled banner under his breath. _Oh, you can star spangle my ass anytime, sunshine_. 

Tony really should not have been listening so intently but the noise that ol’ blue eyes made when he tried the coffee was orgasmic. Literally, Tony was pretty certain that would be the exact noise he would make when-

“So who owns this place, anyway?” Ah, chit-chat. Tony could chit chat. 

Captain America, as Tony had decided, definitely a giving orders type of guy, was surprisingly entertaining. _Shut up Clint, this is not cliche_. 

 

Everytime tall, blond, and gorgeous came into the shop, Clint made it a big deal to make sure that it was Tony who served him, spouting some shit about it being true love, and that Tony should trust Clint, Clint was an expert about this stuff. Tony fired something back about Clint being an expert with his right hand and the internet. Clint shut up for a while after that. 

Despite all his complaining, Tony really enjoyed talking to him. Even though he had no clue what the guy’s name was. Tall, blond, and gorgeous was one of the few people Tony had spoken to in a while that could make him forget he was Tony Stark. For him, he was just Anthony. It was nice. 

Pepper had been commenting on how the quality of his work had improved. Everything was less rushed, the board were certainly appreciating it. His therapist was saying that he was less stressed now, Rhodey was saying Tony was happier now, and so on. The benefits seemed endless, _see I told you this was a good idea, Pepper_.

 

“Why don’t you ask him his name?” Clint’s good friend and spy twin, Natasha asked one day. She didn’t work at Y Not, but she was there so often, Tony might as well have hired her already.

“Natasha, no one asked for your opinion,” Tony said, scowling.

Natasha rolled her eyes, tapping manicured nails against the counter. “I’m aware no one asked, but you’ve been drooling over him for so many weeks that Clint refuses to shut up about it. Like, at all.”

“Damn Romanov, if you’re so desperate to know his name why don’t you ask him.” It wasn’t a question, or really a suggestion, just Tony trying to get the topic of conversation away from his painfully obvious crush.

“Okay, I will. And I’ll get his number. And a date.” She slid off the countertop. 

“Why don’t you get yourself a date and stay off my damn surfaces,” Tony yelled at her, waving his towel after her.

“I get laid more than you, Anthony,” Natasha hummed, taking a sip of a piping hot cappuccino. “Besides, I was going to get a date for you. I’m more interested in blondie’s friend than him.”

“Man-bun, you mean?” Clint shouted from the back room. “Guy only has one arm and he still scares the fuck outta me.”

Natasha smirked. “I like a challenge.”

Tony shook his head, staring at her as he was washed the counter she’d just been sitting on. “Your ability to turn stereotypes on their head will never cease to amaze me,” Tony said. Natasha only arched an eyebrow, shrugging.

“Speak of the devil,” Natasha purred, then tall, blond, and gorgeous came in, with his friend man bun. “You’re on,” Natasha mouthed to Tony, then slid out of the way of the ordering counter.

Tony resisted the urge to fix his hair in a mirror and swept around the counter. “What can I get for you boys?” Tony flashed his best playboy grin.

“I’ll have a large iced americano, and- Bucky what do you want?” Tall, blond, and gorgeous glanced over at his friend.

Man-bun -or Bucky, Tony supposed his name was- sighed, making a face at the menu. “Just a large hot chocolate,” He said.

“That all?” Tony asked, and was met with nods. He typed in the order, tall, blond, and gorgeous paid, and Tony went to making the order.

“Hey blondie,” Clint shouted, poking his head out of the backroom. “Anthony wants your number.”

Tall, blond, and gorgeous blushed, while Bucky snickered. “Really?” Tall, blond, and gorgeous asked, and god, Tony was going to die if that was hope in his voice.

“Clint, you’re fired from being my wingman!” Tony shouted over his shoulder.

“When was I hired?” Clint yelled back. Tony ignored him.

Tall, blond, and gorgeous smiled. “Got a pen?” He asked, and Tony tried not to turn redder than Natasha’s hair, handing over his pencil. Tall, blond, and gorgeous wrote something down on a napkin, then handed it to Tony. “I’m Steve, by the way.”

Tony forgot every word in the English language at that moment, and it took him a second to respond. “Steve, yeah okay. Nice to meet you, Steve.” _You know, if the ground wants to open up and swallow me now, that would be great._ Tony had been turned into a school girl, by this stupid Steve. Steve, with his stupid blue eyes, and his stupid shoulders, stupid smile, stupid teeth. Tony could do this, he was Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries. He could talk to thousands of people at once, he’d been in the public eye since he was four. He could get a stupid date with stupid Steve America. _Yes, Natasha, that’s his name_.

“You too Anthony,” Steve’s lips curved up sinfully, what the ever loving fuck, _oh send my prayers to Tesla_ that shouldn’t be legal. “What time do you get off? We could go and grab dinner or something? Or not, I mean if you’re not free we don’t have to.” Tony’s face must have done something wrong because Steve trailed off, already forming the words to backpedal and take it all back. 

Shit shit shit. _Don’t scare him off before you’ve even had one date, Tony_. “Of course, I’ll finish my shift and then... then we can go grab something to eat?” Tony must have said something right, thank god, because Steve’s face lit up. He reached forward to grab his drink and doughnut, _can’t forget those sprinkles, Mr America needs his freedom_. Tony handed Steve his order.

“That sounds great.” Steve smiled, then frowned. “I didn’t order a doughnut.”

“On the house.” Tony winked, because see, yes, he could be suave. He was still a playboy, here. “I get off at four thirty.”

Steve blushed, and fuck, why was that so hot? “Sounds great. I’ll pick you up, my treat.”

**Author's Note:**

> We wrote this on Google Docs and it felt like the typewriter from Agent Carter. -Fia


End file.
